First and foremost, let me preface this recipe by saying that I did not come up with the name, in case you did not watch the popular sitcom, How I Met Your Mother. If you did watch, you know that Lily meets “the mother” on a train and she has a tin of these cookies. When I saw them, I knew instantly that I could veganize them. Being that there is caramel in them I had a choice- make caramel or hit my secret stash of candy bars.

Confession. I pretty much always have a candy bar hiding somewhere. I think I get that from my mother. She used to tease me about being able to sniff out the chocolate. I found candy bars in her underwear drawer. Hey, when you need chocolate, you just need it. So I ate chocolate that laid with my mom’s undies. Sue me. At least my candy bars are vegan and do not mingle with my thongs. Not yet at least. When Leah starts to sniff out my chocolate, I suppose I will have to get just as creative as my mom did. Because these candy bars are not for sharing. These are all vegan, ethically sourced, non GMO candy bars made to taste like popular candy bars. The Twilight is like a Milky Way, The Jokerz is like a Snickers, Snap! – well that’s like a Nestle Crunch Bar. Cleo’s are better than a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Mahalo (my favorite) are a vegan Almond Joy. The Buccaneer is a better version of a Three Musketeers, and finally, the Thumbs Up is a tastier version of a Butterfinger. If you can’t find them at a local store, you can order them online at many vegan websites. Personally, I can find Jokerz, Twilight, and Mahalo at my local Whole Foods, and I bet yours would carry them if you bugged them enough, too. So get your hands on some Twilight bars (and some others for posterity or secret stash, and get to baking!

Prepare a flax egg. Set aside to “gel.” (If you need tips on how to make it, you can visit my blog for a video, you can also visit for detailed preparation photos).

Cream together vegan butter, applesauce, and coconut palm sugar. Add maple syrup and stevia. Add peanut butter and whip until creamy.
Mix flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl. If you’re smart, you will add this slowly. I got impatient and ended up with some flour on my shirt. And counter. No biggie. Don’t be like me.

Chop your candy into tiny squares, and once everything is well combined, fold in chopped candy pieces. Chill dough one hour (or more).

Line your cookie sheet with parchment or a silpat/silicone mat. Once you’ve cookie scooped your dough out, you can push the dough down with a fork, your fingers, or leave it puffy. Your call. Either way, just make sure there are no major pieces of candy sticking out anywhere. They will melt. All over your cookie sheet.

Note: I like to chill my dough for at least an hour, but if you can’t wait, that’s fine. But the candy will melt pretty quickly so beware. The cookies will taste amazing no matter what, but your cookie sheet could get messy. Like mine did. You could also toss the candy bars into the freezer to firm up, which would help prevent the gooey mess.

Bake for about 15 minutes on 350°F.

Do you want 7 Go Max Go chocolate candy bars (one of each flavor) & a tube of the fabulous vegan lip butter from Ellovi? Enter our awesome giveaway for a chance to win! This giveaway is open to everyone and we will pick 2 lucky winners on Monday night. We are giving you multiple entry options so you have more chances to win. On Tuesday we will announce the winners on GoMaxGo Facebook!! To enter this giveaway, comment on the GoMaxGo Facebook page with the secret word, “Weirdos.” You can make up to 1 extra entry per social media post per day. You can tag @GoMaxGoFoods and @theveganweirdos in your tweets and #theveganweirdosnextdoor, and #gomaxgo on your Pinterest posts, as well as on Facebook.